So here's some news that nearly made Jim Ridley pass out in my cubicle: Elvis Costello recently recorded a three-day session with T Bone Burnett at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studio. The fruit of their labors is Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (produced by Burnett and recorded by Mike Piersante), and it will be released June 2 by Hear Music.
According to a terribly smartly written press release, a handful of legendary session players—Jerry Douglas among them—played on the album, and the 7-inch vinyl single "Complicated Shadows" (yes, he re-recorded it) will be released on Independent Record Store Day. That's April 18 for the layman. The vinyl edition of the full album will include two bonus tracks, one of which is an arrangement of Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale." Costello will tour in support of the album in June and August, but the dates haven't been released. That is, except for one.
All pretty sweet news. But then, tucked away at the very bottom of the press release was a little something you just don't really expect to see in an email about Elvis Costello:
Beginning June 2, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane will be available at participating Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. and Canada...
I knew "Hear Music" sounded familiar. It's Starbucks' record label. Costello now joins Paul McCartney, Carly Simon and James Taylor in the ranks of the java-core legends. Meh. Doesn't really bother me any. For, like a venti toffee nut latte, Costello only gets sweeter with time. Wait...that's not right.
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